Page 43 of The Highlander's Captured Bride
“I wish I hadnae had to accept it at all,” Ethan grimaced. “I’ll leave ye to it, Faither. Er… would ye like me to be there when ye speak to Laird Russell?”
“Nay, if ye’re there he might feel fenced in,” his father replied. “I’ll take care of it alone.”
Standing he nodded, “Good night Faither…and thank ye for nay taking me actions with Miss O’Cain for, well, what is isnae.”
“Just tread carefully, son,” was his warning, “Women like her are hard to find and harder to win back if ye lose them.”
Isnae that the truth….
“Aye,” he said slipping through the door, knowing he had a long, hard night ahead thinking about what exactly he was doing with Violet ahead of him. He had already vowed not to break her heart…but could he live up to that oath?
17
Stepping out of her room the next morning, Violet had to draw back at the man standing at her door, his stone-face immediately marking him a soldier, if the hand resting on his sword did not make it clearer.
“Oh,” she stepped back, “Erm…good morning?”
He dipped his head, “Morning, Miss O’Cain. I’m Killian MacTyre. Laird MacFerson has sent me to guard ye, in light of his…concerns.”
Peeking down the corridor, she did not spot any other solider so asked. “Am I the only one?”
“Nay, Miss,” he shook his head. “But since ye and yer faither’s rooms are so close, it made sense for me to watch ye both. Yer faither left to me Laird’s study early this morning, just after dawn I believe.”
His words gave her the impression that the whole castle was on lockdown. Was Ethan under guard as well? Were they allowed to step a foot out of the castle?
“I understand,” she hedged. “Is it…are ye just stationed at me door at night or are ye—”
Mister MacTyre laughed, well, chuckled. “Nay, Miss, we’re nae told to shadow ye wherever ye go, but it is recommended that ye dinnae stray far from the castle grounds or the village.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, she nodded, “Well, thank ye. I dae appreciate it.”
“We just need ye to be safe, Miss,” he replied.
She was about to turn and leave but spun back. Maybe she shouldn’t be doing this behind Ethan’s back, but she felt he was heavily reticent when she had asked him last night. “Master MacFerson, why did he part from the squadron?”
“For years he was between here and Glasgow,” Mister MacTyre explained. “Laird MacFerson sent him off to get higher learning at the university there, he just couldnae keep up, shuffling back and forth. One summer he stayed at the city and then we heard, by word of mouth, that he was about to get married.”
A numbing chill ran over her body like waves in the ocean, and when she dared speak her words were still, “Oh.”
The soldier shrugged. “As far as I remember, she was a daughter of some Baron, and one of the handmaids of the Queen. Very polished and pretty, I assume. But then he came back home and said nothing of it. I could only assume if such things were right, she had broken his heart.”
Emotions had started to twist inside her stomach from the moment she had heard the word marriage and had grown harder when the woman was revealed to be a woman of position. Now that the hammer had dropped, the reason he had shied away from her elaborating about the fighting forces was…the woman might have broken Ethan’s heart.
Nae wonder he said horses might be more loyal than people.
Shame and sorrow began to eat away at her. “That’s…awful,” she whispered.
His lips were twisted in a wry slant and his broad shoulders shrugged, “If it had happened, I’d agree, but he hasnae said a word about it so…” another shrug.
“Thanks for telling me,” she said, feeling guilty that she had heard this second-hand. It would have been better for Ethan to tell her himself than hear it from another. Now, wild suspicions were beginning to grow and under them, fear. Fear that, if this were true, what chance did she have with Ethan?
“I should go,” she said, trying to keep the tremors in her breast still. “Faither might be waiting for me at the great hall.”
“Good day to ye then,” he ducked his head.
Walking away, Violet knew there was no way she could eat anything over her upset stomach. She was making her way to the secluded garden when it dawned on her that as much as she thought she knew Ethan, there was so much she did not know. Mayhap she needed to put away the feelings she had for Ethan and learn more about him before moving forward.
She sat and stared out into the misty hills in quiet contemplation. Ignoring the little rumbles in her stomach was much easier than ignoring the disquiet in her mind. Ethan had a past, one she felt she had to question before they could forge a future together.
